SEA HISTORY for kids Maritime and Marine Careers
Meteorologist /Oceanographer Joe Sienkiewicz
photos courtesy of joe sienkiewicz • map courtesy noaa
Joe Sienkiewicz is the branch chief for the NOAA Ocean Prediction Center, which is part of the National Weather Service. The Ocean Prediction Center provides mariners with warnings and forecasts for the western North Atlantic and central and eastern Pacific Oceans. The center operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, because weather doesn’t take weekends off. Joe has been with the National Weather Service for more than 30 years, and in that time he has become an expert in a variety of aspects of ocean weather. In his office he has a large array of weather observing and prediction tools at his fingertips. Surrounding his desk are six monitors that allow him to view satellite imagery from four geostationary satellites that cover the oceans from Asia to Europe. He can also see what’s going on in the high latitudes by accessing polar-orbiting satellite imagery. Weather is constantly changing and doesn’t always follow the rules, so Joe uses multiple resources to generate accurate weather forecasts, including numerical
From his desk at the Ocean Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, Joe can access data from satellites and from sources around the world to help him come up with timely and accurate weather forecasts.
NOAA Ocean Prediction Center North Atlantic Surface Analysis from 1200 UTC, 31 August 2017. Surface analyses show the location and strength of lows, highs, and fronts. Lows are storm systems that can produce dangerous winds and seas. Fronts are boundaries between air masses of different temperature and moisture and often have wind shifts. Ocean Prediction Center forecasters produce these maps every six hours and make them available to mariners at sea to help them avoid the most severe winds and waves.
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model forecasts—NOAA’s Global Forecast System, for example— plus others from around the globe, and wave and ocean models such as those provided by the US Navy and international partners. Mariners have come to rely on the Ocean Prediction Center for timely and accurate forecasts and information that help keep them safe at sea. What many of them don’t know is that Joe has firsthand experience being on their end of the marine radio or shipboard computer. Before he went to graduate school to study atmospheric science, Joe was a professional mariner. He grew up in Boston and learned how to sail with the Community Boating program on the Charles River, and one of his first jobs was running the waterfront as the dockmaster at the sailing club. Although he admits he had a “bumpy” start in college, he eventually found a better fit for himself at the State University of New York Maritime College, one of the seven maritime academies in the country that prepare students for careers as professional mariners and other maritime-related professions. At SUNY Maritime, Joe majored in meteorology and oceanography and enrolled in the US Coast Guard Deck Officer License Program. At graduation, he received a Bachelor of Science degree and also qualified for his USCG Third Mate Oceans License.
SEA HISTORY 170, SPRING 2020